drowning at 13’s, starving at 12’s; While this Six Nations is a line in the sand and a chance for Steve Borthwick to reset England, it is not without its painfully familiar challenges.
Eddie Jones sometimes looked like he was on a mission to get as many outside centers into the backline as possible. Four was his personal best, achieved in 2020 by deploying Jonathan Joseph on the wing and packing a midfield of Henry Slade and Ollie Lawrence in front of full-back Elliot Daly.
Of course, balance is the critical factor in the election. Like his predecessor, Borthwick repeatedly advocates “positional flexibility.” Many would argue that we are overly cavalier when it comes to shirt numbers. Ronan O’Gara started to get creative by giving back-rower Yoan Tanga La Rochelle’s 12th over against Sale Sharks for Sunday’s crucial Champions Cup clash. On the open wing is the original hybrid Levani Botia. Despite this, England’s 36-man Six Nations squad produced an outstanding statistic for home game time.
Six members of the squad (Slade, Oscar Beard, Fraser Dingwall, Tommy Freeman, Lawrence and Daly) have made a total of 33 Premiership starts outside center this season. The corresponding shape in the inner middle is three starters, all courtesy of the versatile Dingwall. Borthwick was prepared to openly highlight this midfield impasse in his latest press conference. Manu Tuilagi, now 32 and suffering from another groin problem, was said to be the second potential mentioned at centre.
“Fraser is there, Manu will be fit and hopefully he will play an important role in the middle to the end of the season. [Six Nations]Borthwick said of his options at 12: “Ollie Lawrence can play at 12 and 13. Sladey has the ability to attack and defend in different ways.”
Upcoming potential customers were listed without interruption. Borthwick must chart the path to 2027 while ensuring England maintain momentum and goodwill with good results. In order for the national team to be ready for the future, young people should be given the chance to play in the Premier League.
“I think Max Ojomoh is a really good player with great potential,” he added. “I spoke to Max yesterday and was with him last week. If he continues on the course he is on, he will be in and around the England squad.
“But I want him to play and unfortunately they don’t [Bath] They play with a 12-year-old Scottish center very often. I mentioned Lennox [Anyanwu]; I think he is a good player. But they [Harlequins] There is a 12-year-old South African center.
“Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, which came through the Payout system, is on sale and I think it has great potential. I can talk about others. The important thing is that I want the players to play.
“The most important thing for player development is to play as many minutes as possible, get on the field and be in certain situations. I believe our players are there. We want them to play.”
Borthwick admitted that reducing the number of Premiership clubs from 13 to 10 had intensified quality. This has also limited opportunities and the England head coach has been quite eloquent in highlighting the fact that Cameron Redpath and André Esterhuizen have been the front-line centers for Bath and Harlequins respectively, and that prospective England internationals have been hampered as a result.
Nick Tompkins, a former England age-group representative like Redpath, is Saracens’ No. 12 favourite. Selected by Wayne Pivac four years ago, he now has 32 Wales caps. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, a well-traveled South African who will be eligible to sit in England in 2026, is predictably an important name for Bristol.
Rory Hutchinson, who is back in Scotland’s plans after shining for Northampton Saints, is another inside center who will not be selected by Borthwick. Joe Hawkins and Solomone Kata are in the same category, the latter prompting Leicester Tigers to shift Dan Kelly to 13. Coincidentally, Kelly will be eligible for Ireland this summer unless he adds his only England cap or England A cap against Portugal. February.
Gloucester’s Seb Atkinson and Sale Sharks’ Sam Below stood out without impressing Borthwick enough to be called up. Olly Hartley has power and dynamism. However, following Tom Hendrickson’s mid-season move to Japan from Exeter Chiefs, just over half (57) of the Premier League caps this season have been made by non-England players at inside centre. Borthwick knows experienced Test stars from abroad will often improve on their greener club counterparts. New England captain Jamie George, for example, apprenticed with Saracens alongside Schalk Brits. But for now, Borthwick is doing some improvisation in midfield.
Dingwall, a possible inside center, has been in outstanding form. He changes channels when paired with Hutchinson for Northampton. Will Greenwood hailed Dingwall as “the best midfielder of the lot” and praised the 24-year-old’s insight and balance. If Slade and Lawrence are selected together to face Italy it will be a fluid partnership. Slade put in a strong performance for Exeter last weekend as they defeated Glasgow Warriors in the first leg. He is also the kind of playmaker who can give Lawrence more space, as Redpath and Finn Russell did for Bath.
“I see a guy who has power, speed and can distribute,” Borthwick said of Lawrence on Wednesday. “13. the ability to get to the outside break on the channel is amazing. I think he has the potential to be one of the best.” Regardless of jersey numbers, getting the best out of Lawrence is obviously a priority.